ABUNDANT LIFE VISION
Resurrection: The Foundation of our Faith. 1 Corinthians 15:12-22
But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? [13]For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. [14]And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. [15]And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. [16]And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. [17]And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. [18]In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! [19]And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. [20]But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. [21]So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. [22]Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. NLT.

Good morning dear friends, we are already in Easter period and our topics for the past 2 weeks have centred on the sacrificial acts of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Today, we will be looking at one of the questions that people raise to cast doubt on the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have some people who say that it was not Jesus who died on the cross, some say it was Peter while some say it was Judas. There are lots of controversial takes on the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is important to answer this question because it is crucial to our faith. The Gentile Church of Corinth in our text this morning had that debate among them. I thank God that it happened back then, because God used Paul to clear the doubt, thereby using it as a reference for us in this dispensation.

The Christians faith relies heavily on the resurrection of the saints whereby they will live with God forever while those who did not accept God as their Lord and saviour would be resurrected to face what the Bible calls the second death. Revelation 20:11-15: And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. [12]I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. [13]The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. [14]Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. [15]And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. NLT.

If Jesus did not resurrect from the dead and ascend to heaven where He lives forever, it means that we do not have the hope of eternal life. It means that when we die, it all ends here and our faith is useless, it does not serve us in any way. The fasting and prayers, the consecration and all is a waste of time. Therefore, Paul did not fight or insult them, instead, be presented his point logically and one after the other to the people. He revealed that without the resurrection of Jesus, all who have testified about His resurrection are lying and that we are still guilty of our sins. This is because the mission of saving us from sin would not be complete therefore we would still be under the hold and guilt of sin.

Similarly, Paul continued by telling the church in Corinth that Jesus did resurrect and as a result we are recipients of new life which is something different to what was on ground following the fall of Adam. Also, Paul used this to reinforce an opinion he had given earlier about the timeline of the death and resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus had not resurrected, He would not have been seen by hundreds of people who saw Him, His disciples, and Paul himself. 1 Corinthians 15:3-9: I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. [4]He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. [5]He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. [6]After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. [7]Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. [8]Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. [9]For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church. NLT.

The teaching that casts doubt on the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the teaching birthed by the spirit of the antichrist which opposes the truth about Christ through lies by casting doubt about His divinity. 1 John 4:2-3: This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. [3]But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. NLT. Therefore, as we celebrate this year’s Easter, we should not be disturbed by teachings that says Jesus did not die, resurrect, and that He did not ascend to heaven. It is the product of the spirit of the Antichrist.

Therefore, if you are reading this and you have not given your life to Christ, I want you to do so now because the price for your sins have been paid and your resurrection to life eternal is only found in God. I urge you to give your life to Christ now by saying this prayer wholeheartedly; Lord Jesus, I confess you as my Lord and saviour today, please save me and be my lord and bring me into your fold. Amen. If you have recited the prayer wholeheartedly, I congratulate you and I welcome you to the family of God. Make sure you join a bible believing church as you start your journey in Christ
.

God bless you.